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| Daughter of Smoke and Bone #3 |
Published By: Little, Brown Company
Pages: 613
Rating: 5/5
By way of a staggering deception, Karou has taken control of the chimaera rebellion and is intent on steering its course away from dead-end vengeance. The future rests on her, if there can even be a future for the chimaera in war-ravaged Eretz.
Common enemy, common cause.
When Jael's brutal seraph army trespasses into the human world, the unthinkable becomes essential, and Karou and Akiva must ally their enemy armies against the threat. It is a twisted version of their long-ago dream, and they begin to hope that it might forge a way forward for their people.
And, perhaps, for themselves. Toward a new way of living, and maybe even love.
But there are bigger threats than Jael in the offing. A vicious queen is hunting Akiva, and, in the skies of Eretz ... something is happening. Massive stains are spreading like bruises from horizon to horizon; the great winged stormhunters are gathering as if summoned, ceaselessly circling, and a deep sense of wrong pervades the world.
What power can bruise the sky?
From the streets of Rome to the caves of the Kirin and beyond, humans, chimaera and seraphim will fight, strive, love, and die in an epic theater that transcends good and evil, right and wrong, friend and enemy.
At the very barriers of space and time, what do gods and monsters dream of? And does anything else matter?
This was me by the end of this book:
Taylor has once again produced a piece of work that is just pure magic. This series has never failed to be vivid, imaginative and an excellent example in world-building. And just like Days of Blood and Starlight built upon Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Dreams of Gods and Monsters builds on again. It was a joy to read and see this universe continue to expand until the possibilities became endless. It was particularly interesting to read an account of how humanity might react to an invasion of angels and monsters, and the possible fallout of differing theologies.
However, despite my enjoyment I did question some of the writing decisions Taylor made (although these did diminish as the book progressed). From the first chapter we are introduced to a new point-of view (one of a couple), a fact that was very confusing for most of the book. I was waiting and waiting for an explanation for this, to see what part these characters could possibly play in the grand scheme of things. And I got one. Was it satisfactory? My feels are still all over the place about this. Their inclusion makes sense but that completely depends on how you feel about the end of the book.
Truthfully, I'm not sure how I feel about the end of the book or understand all of it. In some ways it feels that the trilogy was just a lead up to the big reveal rather than the battle with Jael, in other ways it felt like Taylor trying to tie up loose ends quickly and in another way the ending felt right for the story. By the time you sort out your feels I think you'll either love or hate the ending. For me I think I'm leaning towards the love, after all there is a sense that it isn't the end and we can get more books but if not I can still be satisfied.
